accident
by junodog
Summary: Crossover with Star Wars ep 4 and possibly 5, Ed is mistakenly taken prisoner and sent to take down the rebel base. mangabased.
1. Chapter 1

Uh… Star Wars crossover… this time it's around episode 4… First part's rather iffy, but still good…

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"Are you certain the restraints are strong enough?" Darth Vader asked as he walked to the cell holding a small blonde-haired boy. They had taken him from his world by mistake, but after some questioning, some interesting information had surfaced. The boy was considerably powerful. Powerful enough to drastically shift the balance of power from one side to another in the fight against the Rebels.

"Of course, sir. He's been restrained properly this time."

"Good. I don't want him getting loose again."

Meanwhile, the boy inside the cell was pulling with all his might to get his right hand out of the restraint. After a while, he began to make progress. He continued to pull his hand through the iron restraints, shaving off small quantities of metal as his hand squeezed through. He grinned. Automail certainly had its advantages. He would never be able to do this with his left hand, or at least not without hurting himself.

Once his right hand was free, the boy brought it over to his left hand. A flash of light appeared, and in an instant the iron encircling his hand was no longer restraining him. He grinned again and stood up.

The door opened as he stood, and Darth Vader walked into the room. "So, you managed to break free again."

He took a step back as Darth Vader held up a hand. "No matter. You're only proving how useful you can be. I have a deal for you."

"A deal?"

"Yes. You wish to return to your world, correct?"

The boy nodded. Vader continued. "I will allow you to do so if you do something for me."

"And what's that?"

"There are rebel forces trying to bring down this empire. I want you to find their headquarters and destroy it."

"How exactly am I supposed to find it?"

"I'll make sure you meet someone who will take you there," Vader said as he walked out of the room. "Oh, and if you attempt to escape, I will be sure to kill you myself. I don't want you wreaking havoc on this command ship."

The boy sat down as the door closed. He thought of the rebel forces he was supposed to take down. He would have to trick Darth Vader somehow. Working for cruel people had never appealed to Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist.

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After a long time, Edward found himself being taken through the command ship to a shuttle. From there, he stared through the window at the gigantic metal structure before him. _Okay, all of this has to be some sort of prank,_ Ed thought as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll stay here until we find a way for you to reach the base. Just to be sure you understand, _any_ attempt to escape will not end well for you. There is no way for someone such as you to get away from this place. You're trapped."

"I'd like to know something. If you don't know where they are, then how exactly am I supposed to get there?"

"There will be a way. Don't underestimate us, boy."

"Well, if you're so powerful, then why are you having some kid you know nothing about do something as important as taking out a rebel base?"

"We have other methods of destruction should you fail."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ed muttered. As he said this, he felt a hard pressure on his throat.

"Do not underestimate the power of the dark side," said Darth Vader. "I could kill you right now if I wished."

The pressure disappeared, leaving Ed gasping for breath. He was going to say many more sarcastic things, but he decided to hold his tongue. It wasn't worth being killed by a psychotic shinyhead. As the shuttle arrived, Ed quietly walked behind the shinyhead through several hallways to a small room.

"This is where you'll stay. Since you don't have any way of getting out of this place, I'm willing to leave your hands free, but mark my words. If you use alchemy once, your situation will become much worse." The door slammed behind Ed, and he was alone. There he stayed, occasionally receiving food, until there came an opportunity to send Ed to the rebel base.

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As the Millennium Falcon began flying away from the Death Star, Chewbacca found something very interesting in the ship. Han Solo took a moment to look at his discovery: a small blonde boy with startling golden eyes.

Chewie had pinned the boy to the ground and was now holding the boy's hands behind his back. The boy's face was momentarily devoid of emotions. Han pulled out his blaster and pointed it at the boy's head. "What are you doing here?"

Han expected some sob story about how the boy had been a prisoner on the Death Star, followed by some pleading to help with the rebellion, but he got just the opposite. The kid looked straight at Han, and with a completely serious face, said, "How the hell should I know?"

"What- You can't just show up here and tell me you don't know what you're doing!"

At that moment, Princess Leia came into the room. "Hey, shouldn't you be…" she trailed off as she saw the boy on the ground. "Who's this? A friend of yours?"

"No! He just showed up and says he doesn't know how he got here!" The ship rocked as it absorbed the impact of another attack. "Look, I have a job to do. We'll deal with this later." He handed Leia the blaster and ran off.

Leia looked from the boy to Chewie, and back at the boy. "You're not spying for Vader, are you?"

"Why would I want to work for that jackass shinyhead?"

"I don't know, but for some reason I doubt that you made it here by yourself." The ship rocked again.

"Chewie, get over here!" came a call from the cockpit. The wookie looked at the boy for a moment. Leia sighed.

"Go. I can handle this," she said, keeping the blaster pointed at the boy's head. Chewie got off of the boy and made his way to the cockpit. "You can get up now," she said to the boy, who cautiously stood up, keeping his distance from Leia. "So what are you really doing here? And what's your name?"

"My name is Edward. I'm here because that stupid shinyhead thought it would be a good idea to send me with you to wherever your base is and destroy it."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "Do you expect me to believe that?"

Edward shrugged. "No, but that's really what I'm here for."

"How much damage do they think a kid can do?"

"Apparently not that much, because they aren't putting much effort into making sure I'll do what they told me to."

Leia looked Edward over once more before making up her mind. "Give me your hands," she said as she grabbed some handcuffs. Edward obliged quietly, holding out his right arm first. It took Leia a moment to realize that it wasn't a normal arm. It was made entirely out of metal. She didn't think much of it until she remembered something she had been told before being captured. "You said your name's Edward, right?"

"Yeah."

"What's your last name?"

"Elric. Why?"

The ship rocked again. Leia looked over toward the cockpit. "I'll tell you later. For now, just wait here."

---------------

As soon as they had gotten away, Leia went back to talk to Ed. Luke Skywalker joined her after a moment. Ed sat quietly, waiting for one of the two to speak. After a while, Luke began.

"Why did you tell us what you were planning on doing?"

Ed shrugged. "I wasn't ever really planning on following his instructions. I just figured it was better to tell the truth instead of trying to come up with some pointless story you wouldn't believe anyway."

"Where are you from?"

Ed paused for a moment. Leia decided that now would be the best time to share her information. "I think I can answer that one," she said as she stood up. "He's from a planet that doesn't have much technology, or at least when you compare it to other planets. I don't know the name of the planet, but your country's name is Amestris, right?"

That surprised Ed. "Yeah, that's right. How did you know?"

"Your left leg's the same as your arm, isn't it?"

Ed nodded, still looking fairly confused. "How…?"

"I've met your brother. He's back at the base."

There was a flash of what looked like hope in Ed's eyes, but he continued to look slightly confused. Leia continued. "But don't expect us to trust you just because of that."

"I didn't."

Leia was slightly taken aback by Ed's blunt statement. She had expected something less… well, blunt, but of course, Ed surprised her. Everything about this boy was telling her he was trustworthy, but her past experiences told her not to be stupid, so she decided to leave the handcuffs.

Han entered the room seconds later and looked at Ed. "You're not really thinking of bringing him with us, are you?"

"Well, what else can we do?" Luke replied. "He seems a little too young to be part of the Empire, and besides, if he's really working against us, wouldn't he have done something by now?"

"Yeah, that's only because Chewie found him. If he'd had the chance, he would have done something."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, you think I couldn't do anything right now?"

Han glared at Ed. "Yeah, that's exactly what I think. You're too tiny to do anything."

Before anyone really knew what had happened, Han was on the ground. Ed had broken out of the restraints and was standing above Han. "I'M NOT SHORT!" He stepped back and sat down again, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "Oh, and I could have done that at any time."

Han stood up while holding his nose. "Jeez, did you really have to use your right hand?"

"What, you want me to use my left? I can, you know."

This last action convinced Leia that Ed was indeed the person she thought he was. After all, his brother had given a warning that Ed was a little _too_ sensitive about his height, and a reaction like that would be hard to fake.

Han finally let go of his nose and walked out of the room. "You know, even if he isn't intending on leading the Empire to where we're going, he still could have a tracking device on him. Hey, Chewie, help me out here, will you?"

There was an awkward silence in the room for a while. Then Luke stood up. "Well, it would probably be a good idea just to check for something."

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When Han finally deemed it safe to return to the room where Ed was sitting, he was surprised to see the kid sitting on the bench in handcuffs again, and only in his boxers. He saw a lot of scars on Ed's body, but he decided not to comment. It wasn't worth getting punched again.

"So did you find anything?" he asked Luke, who was still checking Ed's pocket.

"Just this," Luke replied, holding out a silver watch. "He's fine."

"You sure you didn't miss anything?"

"Yeah. I checked his arm and leg too. He doesn't have anything like that on him."

"Let me see that." Han grabbed the watch and inspected it from all angles. Eventually he set it down. "Fine. So the kid isn't being tracked. That still doesn't mean I trust him."

"That's fine with me," Ed replied.

"So just what exactly are you going to do with this brat?" Han asked. Ed scowled, but Han ignored it. Luke gave Ed his clothes back and took off the handcuffs.

"Well, his brother's trusted at the base, so I guess we'll just see what happens when we get there."

Han sat down and pulled something out of his pocket. He messed around with it as Ed pulled his clothes back on. "So where you from again?"

"A planet in the middle of nowhere," Ed replied. "Not much in the way of technology there either."

"So how'd you end up on the Death Star?"

"I was accidentally kidnapped."

"Accidentally?"

"Yeah, I guess they were looking for someone who was hiding out in my country, and somehow they found me instead."

"But why would they take someone like you?"

"Because I'm an alchemist."

"What?"

"Alchemy. It's something that I guess you can only find on my world."

"What exactly does it do?"

"It's the knowledge, analysis, and recreation of the laws and the currents that exist within substances. Or, to put it simply, it's taking one thing and changing it into something else."

Han laughed. "Yeah, like I'll believe that."

"It's true," Ed replied, but he didn't argue any further.

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Um, and ignore the slight plothole of how the hell is Vader going to control Ed if they let him run off and stuff, I'll think of something… hopefully…


	2. Chapter 2

Part two, finally up… This may end up being a shorter story than I thought… Dang, I need to think about that…

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Once at the base, Ed was taken to a small room and told to wait there. He sat on the floor with his hands cuffed, wondering what his fate would be. Since his brother was here, there was a good chance that they would trust him, but he hadn't made the greatest first impression. He would have to be careful.

He waited for a long time before Princess Leia came in, escorted by a few men. One of them let Ed's hands loose and had him stand up.

"You know, from what I've heard, we're taking a big risk by letting you loose. Are you sure it's okay to trust you?"

"Who told you that?" Ed asked.

"Your brother, for one. Your name is also mentioned a lot in your country. So, can we trust you?"

Ed paused for a moment. "Yeah."

"Great. Come on, maybe you can help us with something."

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The Death Star got blown up, Ed and Al were reunited, and the time soon came for the Rebels to leave their current base and find another one. This happened on numerous occasions, but there was never a good chance to return Ed and Al to their home planet. Ed was beginning to get frustrated, but he chose not to comment. He realized just how hard it was for the Rebels already, and he didn't want to add to their problems.

One day, just after they had settled into a new base, Ed was chosen to accompany Luke and Han on a scouting mission. Al came along as well. Everything went well, until they were heading back to the base. Ed was the first to notice that something was wrong.

"Isn't it a little too quiet here?" he muttered as they walked through the canyons.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"When we were walking out here, I could hear noises from around this area, like from whatever it is that lives around here. Now, though, it's… quiet."

"Yeah, it does seem a little quiet here," Han agreed. "I wonder what's going on…" There was a shot in the distance.

"Oh, no," Luke said.

"That can't be good," Han muttered. "Come on, let's go check it out."

They ran back to the base, where a group of rebel soldiers was fighting against a rather large amount of imperial troops. Luke was about to go help them when Ed held him back. "Wait. You can't go out there yet."

"Why not? Look, Ed, our friends are out there!"

"Yeah, and so is Vader, in case you didn't notice," Ed replied, pointing at the black speck in the distance. "We have to find another way to help them."

"Like how?"

From their hiding place in the trees, Ed surveyed the land. Then he stood up. "Leave that to me. Do you know if they're evacuating yet?" he asked, just as a ship took off.

"You know, I think that's a yes," Han replied.

"Good. That'll make this easier," Ed said as he ran off.

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As he got close, Ed transmuted a blade on his arm, just in case. He brought his hands together and placed them on the ground, just as someone was about to shoot him. He sent a wave of land at the stormtroopers, giving the Rebels a chance to retreat into the base. Ed clapped his hands together again and created a massive wall, effectively blocking the stormtroopers from chasing the retreating Rebels. Once he was sure they'd have enough time to get away, Ed ran for it, only to be stopped in his tracks by a startling sight.

Darth Vader was making his way to the entrance to the base, his lightsaber on. Ed looked around. Everyone else had made it inside. Or at least, almost everyone. Al was standing near the entrance, waiting for his brother.

Ed looked from his brother to Vader, and decided to sprint to the entrance. Vader noticed his attempts and came toward him, lightsaber in hand. Ed brought his hands together and placed them on the ground, forming a wall underneath him that he used to push himself into the air. He landed gracefully on the other side of Vader and continued sprinting.

Al ushered his brother inside, and they ran for the _Millennium Falcon_, where Han and Luke were waiting. Ed was running like a madman, and was twice as far into the hangar as Al was. Just then, there was an explosion. Ed was thrown into the air and landed on his side right next to the ship. Al's head landed right next to him. Ed grabbed it and looked for his brother, but Al was nowhere to be seen. Some of the dust cleared up, and Ed looked with horror at what he saw: bits of metal lying all around the floor, and an arm and leg that Ed knew belonged to his little brother.

Han came out of the ship as Ed stared at the wreckage. When he saw Ed standing there, he grabbed the alchemist by the shirt and tried pulling him inside.

"Come on, we have to go!"

"Wait! What about Al?"

"He got blown to bits, kid! Now come on!"

"NO! I have to help him!"

Han let go of Ed. "Your brother's dead, kid! There's no way he could have made it out of that!"

Ed's legs gave out and he fell to the floor. "No… there's no way… You're lying. He can't be dead. He can't be."

"Look, I'm sorry, kid, but that's how it goes."

Luke came down at this point in time. "Han, what are you doing? We have to get out of here!"

Han took another look at Ed and nodded. "Yeah, I know." He grabbed Ed's arm and pulled the alchemist to his feet. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

Ed tried to break free. "No, he has to be alive."

"Ed! There's no way that seal could have survived that explosion!" Han shouted. When he saw the horrified expression on Ed's face, he softened a little. "I'm sorry, but we can't stay here any longer."

Han practically had to drag Ed into the ship. As the entrance closed and the ship began to take off, Luke could hear the alchemist crying out, "ALPHONSE!"

---------------

Once they were away from the Imperial ships, Luke turned his attention to the helmet on the ground, and the forlorn figure sitting next to it. Ed's head was buried in his arms, and he was shaking. Luke kneeled in front of him and put a hand on Ed's arm.

"Hey."

Ed was quiet. Luke decided to try again.

"Hey, Ed."

Ed still didn't speak. Luke tried for another minute before giving up. As he went to the cockpit, he heard a heart-wrenching sob. He looked back at Ed for a moment before going into the cockpit.

Han was trying to fix something when Luke came in. He stopped for a moment and let Chewie take over. "How's he doing?"

"Not so good. You know, maybe you shouldn't have been so harsh."

"What? What did you expect me to say? 'Come on, kid, your brother can catch up with us later!' How well do you think that would have worked?"

"I don't know, but you didn't have to shout it out for everyone to hear!"

"Well, sorry, but I didn't know what to do! How was I supposed to know he'd take it so hard?"

"Did you pay attention to them at all before now? They were almost always together! How would you feel if Chewie died?"

Chewie growled and continued working. Han looked at Luke with shock. "All right, I made a mistake. It's too late to do anything about it now, though."

"You could apologize."

Han paused for a moment before leaving the cockpit. Luke sat down and looked through the windows. "Oh, man, Ed's not going to be happy for a long time now."

Chewie growled again as he finished up. Just then, a message came through. It was someone from the Rebel fleet.

"Did you guys make it out all right?" asked a crackly voice. Luke and Chewie exchanged glances. Luke took a minute to respond.

"No, not all of us. We lost Al."

"What, that droid?"

"He's not a droid, and yeah, that armor got blown to bits when the Empire set off some kind of explosion."

"What about everyone else? You fiv- four were the only ones left down there."

"We barely made it out, but we're fine now. Ed's taking it pretty hard, though."

"That's understandable. Anyway, we'll meet up at the rendezvous point. Be careful."

"You too."

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Back at the remnants of the rebel base, someone was picking up the fragments of armor, under Darth Vader's instruction. He paused when he came to a fragment with blood on it. It was a seal of some sort, and the piece of metal moved slightly on its own. He heard a small voice.

"Bro…ther…"

"Lord Vader! You were right. He is here." The soldier held the piece of armor out for Darth Vader, who took it and observed it.

"So the soul is still connected. Good. We can use this when the Fullmetal Alchemist is captured."

The voice got louder and slightly more panicked. "What are you going to do with him?"

"It's none of your concern. You should be grateful that I'm letting you live. Perhaps your brother will return to fix you."

"Leave him alone!"

"You're in no position to give out orders. Take the rest of the armor to the ship. I will keep this piece with me."

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Han stood on the opposite side of the room from Ed for a while, not knowing what to say. After a moment, he walked up to the small alchemist and sat down next to him.

"Sorry, kid."

Other than a couple of sobs, Ed was quiet. Han picked up the helmet and looked at it.

"I really am. If I had known about that explosion beforehand, I wouldn't have let your brother go after you."

Ed was still quiet. Han gently set the helmet down and stood up.

"Hey, it'll be okay."

"Shut up."

Han had been walking away, but now he stopped and looked back. Ed had picked his head up a little, and Han could see his eyes now. They were narrowed and tearstained.

"You have no idea what we've been through. Our lives have been hell, but we've always had each other, and a promise that kept us going. Now that Al's gone, there's no point in that promise, so what am I supposed to do now?" Ed's voice was shaky but strong. Han could hear anger in his words, anger that bordered on rage and despair.

"You know what? I don't know what you can do now. I never thought something like that would happen. Sorry kid, but I don't know what to tell you."

Ed hid his head again. "There's nothing to say. Al's the only person I had left in my family. Now he's gone and there's really nothing left for me. Everything we worked for, everything in the past five years, is completely worthless now."

Han took a nearby blanket and put it around Ed's shoulders before returning to the cockpit. He fell back on one of the chairs with a sigh. Luke sat up and looked at him expectantly.

"Well, he can still talk, at least. He looked tired, too. I think he'll end up falling asleep soon."

"What did he say?"

"He said something about a promise, but I don't know what he's talking about. He also mentioned not having anyone else in his family, so that's gotta make it even harder on him."

"Wait, didn't he mention his dad a while back?"

"Yeah, but from the way he was talking about him, I doubt they're very close."

Luke looked back toward the room where Ed was sitting. "Then he really doesn't have anything." He stood up and went to check on Ed. Han was right. Ed had fallen asleep, but his face was still covered in tears. Luke gently moved him into a more comfortable position and left him alone.

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When Ed woke up, he had a headache. He placed his hand on his forehead and looked around. He was lying on a bed in a white room. For a moment, he wondered how he had ended up here, but then he remembered. Tears came to his eyes as that incident flashed before his eyes.

He heard a door open, and Leia walked up to him. Ed sat up.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"No."

Leia sat down at the foot of the bed. "Of course you wouldn't be. I'm sorry. We should have brought him with us, but he really wanted to stay and wait for you."

"He was always too softhearted."

It was quiet in the room for a while. Ed wrapped his arms around his knees. "It's definitely not easier the second time."

"Second time?"

"I lost Al about four years ago, when his body was taken away. That time I was able to retrieve his soul, but now… I don't even have that. He's gone. For good."

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Ed didn't speak for a few days after that. He barely ate anything, and after a week of this, Luke decided that something needed to be done.

He came into Ed's room while Ed was staring out of the small window. After a while, Ed noticed Luke's presence and turned to face him.

"Are you trying to starve yourself to death?" Luke asked, his voice harsher than he meant for it to be.

"No, I'm not. I've been thinking about something."

"About Al?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. For some reason, I don't think he could have been killed."

Luke sighed. "Ed…"

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I have reasoning for this. Back then, when it happened, I could see that even though it was broken, most of the parts were pretty big, big enough to have a seal on it. Considering where it was on the armor, I don't think it could have been destroyed that easily. From what I could see, it looked fairly intact."

"So, what, your brother's just stuck on some piece of metal somewhere? I don't think that's much better. Besides, what if the Empire finds him and-"

"They won't. He's helpless in that state, and even if he weren't, attaching a soul to a suit of armor isn't something you see every day. Actually, other than Al, I only know of three people who've had their souls bonded to armor. It's very hard to do."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that Al's current form is a product of alchemy. From a soldier's point of view, it's very handy. You have no need to eat or sleep, and you can't feel pain. The only way you can die is if someone destroys the seal, or through something known as the rejection effect."

"Rejection effect?"

"Yeah, if a body and soul don't match, there's no guarantee that the soul will continue to be attached to the body. But of course, I doubt they know that, so it's like a form of immortality."

Luke's eyes lit up as he realized what Ed meant. "Of course. If the Empire had an immortal army, it would be almost impossible to stop them."

"Exactly. Of course, they don't know all the details, which is what could save Al."

"Assuming he's still alive."

"He is. I can feel it."

"You can?"

"Yeah. I don't really know how, but…"

Luke smiled and tousled Ed's hair. "Maybe it's because of the Force. Come on, let's go get some lunch."

---------------

Oh, and if you're wondering why they only learned about the fight when gunshots went off, it's because they forgot a comlink or something. I don't know what exactly, but they forget something. I didn't write it in because I was lazy, and since it's not that important…


	3. Chapter 3

Yeah, next part, slightly more action, maybe…

Anyhow, there are a couple of things I'd like to say. First off, if you've read the most recent chapters of FMA from Japan, then you'll probably realize that Ed shouldn't exactly be able to use alchemy in space. Could you just ignore that little fact, please? That's what I'm doing.

Second, the beginning of this chapter is what I call a random incident. There may be more of these, but it's pretty much something that's somewhat important to the main storyline, but I didn't have a good place to put it.

Third, this chapter ends with something that I'm unsure about. I might be right about certain things, but then again, I might be making crap up. Either way, please bear with me on this, because I'm trying my best.

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A random incident:

Ed was sitting amongst the higher ranked people of the Rebel Alliance, in some sort of strategy meeting, when Han came into the room.

"Sorry I'm late, had some troubles with my ship."

"Not a problem, Captain Solo. Anyway, Major Elric, if you would continue with your strategy?"

"Right," Ed replied as Han sat down. He was just about to speak when Han interrupted.

"Wait a minute, _Major_ Elric? Since when are you a major?"

"Since I was twelve."

"How the heck did that happen?"

"I'm just that talented."

"What does talent have to do with it?"

Ed sighed and began explaining the concept of State Alchemists to Han, who stared blankly at Ed for several minutes.

"Yeah, right," he finally said.

"It's true," Leia said. "He's got a pretty good reputation in his world, so we're honoring his rank."

"Even though I don't care about that," Ed muttered, but nobody really paid attention to that. After a moment, Han gave it up. Somewhat.

"Yeah, like I'll ever think of you as a dangerous person," he muttered darkly. Ed shrugged and continued with his strategy.

--------------

After another day or so, they made it to their next base. It took a while for Ed to notice his surroundings. When it finally got through his head, he wondered why they had decided to set up base on an ice planet. It was too cold for his tastes. He didn't much care for having to worry about frostbite all the time.

After a while, Han and Luke both went out on patrol. Ed was chillin with Chewie in the hood (word up to my home fries, man) when Han came back. He tousled Ed's hair as he walked by. "Risking frostbite, huh?"

Ed pushed Han's hand away. "It's not _that_ cold."

"Yeah, sure. Hey, uh…"

"What?"

"I'm leaving."

"Oh, like you're sick of being around here?"

"Sick of being here, no. Sick of having you stalking me and making stupid comments about everything I do, yes. Besides, I have to pay someone back if I want to live."

Ed smirked. "I always figured it would catch up to you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"Oh, yeah, like you're any better."

"Of course I am."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Sure, I've done a few… illegal things in my day, but most of those were against people who deserved it."

"Uh-huh. So what did you do to someone who didn't deserve it?"

Ed pointed at his arm and walked off. He wasn't in the mood to go into detail. Han stood there for a moment before running up to Ed. "Hey, I wasn't trying to offend you."

"Yeah, whatever."

Han slowed down. "You know, maybe I should just stop talking to you. Everything I say just makes you freak out."

Ed stopped and looked over his shoulder. "No, not really. I just like making you feel bad."

"What makes you think I feel bad?"

"Oops, did I say feel bad? I meant look bad. I like exposing you for the jerk that you are."

"You know, maybe there's another reason that I'm leaving."

"What, you can't stand to be around someone who's obviously smarter than you?"

"Excuse me? Hey, at least I know the difference between a droid and a cruiser."

By this point in time they had reached wherever it is that Han had meant to go. A couple of people were listening with amusement to the conversation. Ed shrugged and turned to go back. "Yeah, well that's only because you grew up around all this. I didn't, so it's a different story for me."

One of the officers laughed as Ed left the room. "You know, he's got you there."

"Yeah, yeah," Han replied as he went to do whatever he was doing.

----------------

As Ed walked over to his room, he could hear a commotion behind him. He looked back to see Han and Leia coming toward him. He stepped out of the way as Han stormed past him, and politely nodded as Leia walked by. He heard them arguing, and decided not to get too close. He didn't want to get near Han's dramatic love life.

After a while, Han stormed off in Ed's direction, and Ed decided to add to the drama in his own way. He kicked a stray chunk of ice in front of Han, who proceeded to trip and fall on his face in the snow. Ed looked at him and held out a hand. "Wow, are you always a klutz when you've been rejected?"

Han shoved Ed and stormed off. "You're not a part of this, Ed."

Ed laughed to himself and continued walking down the corridor.

---------------

Ed stared at the door as it closed for the night, leaving Han and Luke stranded out in the cold. He folded his arms and felt the cold from his right arm seep into his skin. He looked over at Princess Leia, whose face clearly showed that she was just as worried as Ed was, if not more so. Ed looked around and went over to talk to her.

"If it were me, I would have been dead by now," he said, still looking at the closed doors.

"Yeah, well it's cold enough for it not to matter whether your body's partly made of metal."

Ed leaned against a metal beam. He waited a moment before speaking again. "When Al and I were trying to get better at alchemy, we spent a month on an uninhabited island without any means of survival other than a knife. Our teacher said we had it easy, since she had been forced to survive in a large, snowy mountain range in the middle of winter for a month."

Leia turned to Ed. "What are you getting at?"

"I dunno, I just think that if someone can survive harsh conditions like that for a month, then two grown men should be able to make it through one night, especially those two."

Leia smiled. "Thanks, Ed. I guess you really do care about Han, don't you?"

"No, I don't care about him. I'm more worried about Luke."

Leia smiled again and walked off.

-------------

Ed was at a loss. He had been helping out with some urgent problems while the evacuation continued, but somehow he had been cut off from the others and was now stuck in the hangar that contained the _Millennium Falcon_. He was about to transmute an entrance to the other part of the base when Han, Leia, and C-3PO came charging into the area. Ed started and decided to get onboard. He didn't seem to have any other choice.

He ended up being dragged into a small area of the ship and instructed to fix some broken cables with alchemy. He was about to transmute them when something hit the ship, sending Ed to the ground. He struggled to regain his footing as Han ran into the cockpit.

"Ed! Fix those cables! We're gonna need 'em to get through this mess!"

Ed got to his feet and fixed the cables just as the ship rocked again. He made his way to the cockpit only to be knocked to the ground by another impact. He decided to sit down and wait for instructions rather than risk injury.

He wasn't needed until they landed in a cave in a meteor. Han pointed out some things that needed to be connected, and Ed fixed them just as Leia came running into the room. "There's something out there!"

---------------

By the time they got out of the asteroid field and had avoided the imperial ships, Ed was not moving at all. He was sitting on the floor with his head resting on the wall. Leia walked up to him and kneeled beside him.

"Something wrong?"

"I… just felt dizzy all of a sudden. Don't know why."

"Oh, boy. Is anything else wrong?"

"No, I don't think so…"

Leia put a hand on Ed's forehead. "Well, I think you have a fever, so I'm guessing you just got sick. Why don't you just take it easy for a while?"

"Yeah…"

As she left the room and made her way to the cockpit, she sighed. Ed seemed to be having very bad luck lately. She sat down next to Han without saying a word.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah, I think Ed got sick."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. What, do you think he has any control over it?"

"That's not what I meant. How bad is it?"

"Doesn't seem too bad. He'll probably be fine if we let him sleep for a while."

"He's not having much luck lately, is he?"

"No, he isn't. Maybe we should have brought him to his world when we had the chance."

Han went back to flying the ship. "Oh well, too late now."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, I doubt he'll want to go home until he knows for sure what the deal is with his brother."

"You don't believe him, do you?"

"Why not? The way he explained it, it's pretty logical."

"Yeah, but what if he's wrong?"

"If he's wrong, then he'll have to deal with it when he finds out."

"So you're just going to let him live on false hope?"

"Hey, he may be a kid, but he's smart. He knows that he might be wrong, but right now it's the only thing keeping him together. Or do you want him to be a nervous wreck again?"

"I never said that." Han stood up. "Look, it's not like I'm saying I don't believe him."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I don't know. Look, I'm going to check on him. And no, I'm not going to say anything about his brother."

----------------

Han crouched down so that he was close to Ed's eye level. "Hey, you probably shouldn't sit on the floor. It's pretty cold right here."

Ed didn't reply. Han sighed and grabbed Ed's arm. "Come on. I don't want you getting worse while you're on my ship, because then the _princess_ will find some way to blame _me_ for this."

Ed slowly got up and followed Han to a small bed in some small corner of the ship. Han helped Ed get his shoes off and watched as he lay down. Once he was sure Ed was asleep, Han went back to the cockpit, where Leia looked at him expectantly.

"He's asleep now. Hey, Chewie, what's the distance to our destination?"

Chewie growled. Han sat down and looked out the window. "Good."

Leia looked over at him. "You didn't say anything stupid to him, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I just brought him over to a bed and made sure he didn't pass out on the way."

"Good." After a while, Leia walked out of the cockpit and went to where Ed was sleeping. He had curled up into a fetal position, his back to the room. Leia adjusted the blanket and felt Ed's forehead again. It was about the same as it had been the last time she had checked.

"Well, at least you aren't getting worse," she muttered to Ed, knowing that he wouldn't hear her. He didn't, but C-3PO did.

"I beg your pardon, madam. I'm no expert on human sicknesses, but right now it seems that Major Elric is suffering from some form of stress."

"Stress, huh?"

"That's how it appears."

"Yeah, you may be right. I guess we'll just have to let him relax for a while."

"I don't know if that's the only solution."

Leia watched as Ed shifted in his sleep. "I know, but we can't really give him what he needs most."

"And what would that be?"

"His brother."

"Oh, of course. Well, he'll just have to get along without that pitiful excuse for a droid."

"Droid?" Leia asked, looking at C-3PO with some anger. "What makes you think he's a droid?"

"Well, if he's a human, then why wouldn't he show his face?"

"3PO, we've gone over this. Al doesn't have a body in there. It's just his soul. Look, why don't you go bug Han or something?"

C-3PO walked out of the room with an air of indignation. "Well! How rude!"

Leia sighed and decided to sit down next to Ed. He was now lying on his back. After a while, Ed curled up again, and Leia could hear Ed talking in his sleep. She tried to understand what he was saying, but to no avail. Finally, they arrived at the system, and Leia went back to the cockpit.

----------------

While Luke was training, he suddenly had a random thought. He turned to Yoda.

"Master Yoda, I met this kid…"

"An alchemist he is, am I correct?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Knew of someone like that, I did. From a planet with a country called Amestris. Very strange country. Shaped like a circle it is. But that was before you were born."

"So you've been to that world?"

"No, I have not. Other Jedi went, but not I. Decided to leave that world alone, we did. Too many problems to be solved."

"He said something about a civil war. Well, just mentioned it, but it seems like it affected him a lot."

"Wars affect many people. This boy, what is his name?"

"Edward Elric."

"Elric, eh?"

"Yeah, that's what he said."

"Heard of an Elric, I have. The wife of a powerful man, Von Hohenheim."

"Do you think they're related?"

"Hard to say. But this Hohenheim, a very strange one was he. Very unusual presence in the force."

"How so?"

"As a single person, yet many."

Luke was confused. "How is that possible?"

"This Edward, he might know. Ask him you should. Ask about Hohenheim as well. Where is he?"

"With the rest of the rebels, I guess. The Empire took him away from his world and he ended up with us."

"Teach him about the Force. Aid him it will."

"How? He's an alchemist, not a Jedi."

"It matters not. To understand the Force is to understand the flow of the universe. Such a flow is important to alchemy."

"Okay…"

After that, they went back to whatever they were doing. Luke decided that he would indeed ask Ed about Hohenheim when he got the chance.

-----------------

Yep, I'm pretty sure I'm making up crap, but hey, it's a fanfic. Who cares? XD


	4. Chapter 4

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I SUCK AT UPDATING! T.T

As they got off the ship, Chewie ended up carrying Ed on his back. Ed hadn't woken up since falling asleep, and his fever had gotten slightly worse. After Lando came up and greeted his guests, his gaze fell on the sleeping teenager.

"What's wrong with this kid?"

"He's just feeling a little under the weather. He should be fine in a day or two," Han replied.

"Oh. Well, if it gets too bad, we can always do something about it."

"Yeah, thanks."

As they walked through the building, Ed woke up for about a minute. He looked around to see where he was before remembering that they had ended up going to some planet to suck up to some old buddy of Han's. He slowly closed his eyes again. As he did so, he thought he saw a white figure hiding behind a corner.

Chewie set Ed down on a bed and went to do other stuff for a while. Han and Lando looked down at him for a while.

"So is he a friend of yours?"

"I guess you could say that. He's got a pretty aggravating personality, though."

Lando laughed. "He knows how to get you mad, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. Plus every time I open my mouth he has some emotional breakdown because of what I say."

"What kind of things do you say to him?"

"Well, one time I told him to go home, and he just glared at me and said he didn't have one to go to. And then I mentioned something about his parents and he just glared at me and walked off."

"Jeez, what kind of life is this kid living?"

"That's what I'd like to know, but he hasn't said much about it. His right arm and left leg are fake, too. Some kind of prosthetic limb from his planet, not incredibly advanced."

"What's his name?"

"Edward Elric."

Lando looked at Ed for another moment. "Well, I have work to do. See you later."

"Yeah, see you," Han replied. Ed shifted in his sleep and let out a quiet moan. Han checked his forehead before walking out of the room.

-------------

"So, that boy is here as well."

Lando kept his eyes on the far wall as he spoke to Darth Vader. "That's right."

"Good. That makes things easier."

"Wait, why do you care about that boy?"

"He is just as important to us as Skywalker. That boy could easily destroy the Rebel Alliance. All he needs is the proper motivation."

At this, Lando noticed the slightly curved piece of metal sitting on the table. There was a seal drawn on it, one that looked like it was drawn with blood. "What's that?"

"That seal contains the soul of someone whose life is very important to that boy. The ability to create something like this is possessed only by that boy, and he'll do anything in order to save his younger brother."

Lando didn't quite believe this until a voice emanated from the metal. "Oh, yeah, like that'll happen. He's not stupid, you know." The voice sounded very young.

"Perhaps not, but he does allow himself to be ruled by his emotions," Vader replied as he left the room. Lando looked curiously at the piece of metal.

"So wait, you're just a soul?"

"Yeah, my body was taken away a few years ago. Um, you met my brother, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but he was asleep."

"Is he okay?"

"You mean other than being sick? Yeah, as far as I know, he's fine."

"That's a relief."

Lando felt very awkward talking to a piece of metal. Then he realized that whoever he was talking to must feel much more awkward than he did. After all, he couldn't move, or do anything for that matter.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Alphonse."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Alphonse, even if it's not under the best conditions."

Lando heard a weak laugh. "Yeah…"

-------------

Ed heard a noise nearby. He opened his eyes to see where it was coming from, but something was covering them. It felt like a damp cloth. He heard footsteps and a voice coming from his right side.

"Hey, you awake?" Han asked.

"Yeah."

"Feeling any better?"

"Sort of. So what's happening?"

"Well, Lando had some of his men do some repairs on the _Falcon_, and we're just waiting here until they're done."

"Oh."

"Would you mind if I looked at your arm?"

"Why?"

"I dunno, just want to see how it works. That way I can fix it if you break it."

"Go right ahead." Ed was too tired to argue against the breaking thing.

Ed closed his eyes again as Han began observing the automail. After a while, Han talked to Ed some more. "That's pretty advanced right there. Yeah, sure, it's not nearly as advanced as the ones we've got, but considering how primitive your world is, it's pretty good. Who made it?"

"A girl I've known since I was really little."

"Oh, so you have a girlfriend?"

"Shut up. It's not like that."

"Hey, no need to get all defensive about it."

"I wasn't being defensive."

"Sure you weren't."

"Yeah, well even if I did like her, I'd be doing better than you are," Ed replied. Han 'accidentally' yanked on Ed's arm at that comment. "Hey! What was that for?"

"My hand slipped."

"Yeah, right. You did that on purpose."

"Hey, don't strain yourself. You still have a pretty bad fever."

Ed groaned as Han left the room.

-------------

When Ed woke up next, he could hear voices coming from the other side of the door. He tried sitting up. When he wasn't overcome by dizziness, he decided to get out of bed. He pulled on his shirt and left the tiny room where he had been sleeping since arriving.

Han and Leia were sitting out in what looked like a living room of some sort. They both looked up at Ed briefly as he walked over and sat down.

"Feeling better now?" Leia asked.

"For the most part," Ed replied.

"That's good. We'll probably end up leaving soon."

At that moment, Chewie came into the room, holding a very broken C-3PO. Ed's reaction was about the same as Leia's and Han's, only he was still sitting down and had little energy to spare.

After a moment, someone came into the room. Both Han and Leia recognized him, so Ed figured he was the Lando person Han had been talking about. He nodded politely at Ed.

"Hey, you're awake. I'm Lando."

Ed shook Lando's hand. "I'm Ed."

"Nice to meet you," Lando said before turning to Leia. After a moment, he offered drinks to everybody. Ed followed the group silently, and he had a slightly delayed reaction when the door opened, revealing Darth Vader and several stormtroopers.

When Ed went to sit down, having realized that resistance was pointless, he tripped and fell flat on his face. Han helped him to his feet and muttered, "Nice."

There was a long, awkward silence in the room that lasted several minutes. It ended when Darth Vader stood up and pointed at Ed. "You. Come with me."

Ed cautiously stood up and followed the shinyhead out of the room. They walked down a long hallway and came to what looked like a cell. Once Ed was inside, Vader signaled for the stormtroopers to leave. As the door closed behind them, Ed saw something interesting sitting on the table. It was a piece of metal, with a very familiar blood seal on it.

Ed moved forward to look more closely at it, but Vader placed a very strong hand on his shoulder.

"I will leave you in here. Do not attempt to escape."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Ed muttered. Vader let go of him and left the cell, leaving Ed alone with his brother. "Al…?"

"Brother?"

Ed collapsed on the floor out of both exhaustion and relief. "I was afraid you had been killed."

"No, I'm alive. Somewhat."

Ed gave a weak laugh. "Great. Now I just need to reattach you to the rest of the armor."

"But we're prisoners."

"I know."

"Wait, brother, there's something you should know."

"What?"

"When they came here, the plan was to use you guys as bait. They used me to make sure you'd be obedient, and now they're waiting for Luke to get here."

"What?" Ed stood up in a hurry and got very dizzy. He leaned on the table for support for a while.

"Brother, don't strain yourself."

"I'm fine, Al."

"No you're not. You're sick."

"Yeah, I guess so. So wait, Luke's going to come here?"

"That's what I've heard. I think Vader wants him on the Empire's side."

"Damn…"

"Brother, you should get some rest."

Ed nodded. "Right. Here, I don't really want to leave you there in case someone doesn't realize it's you." Ed picked up the piece of metal and went over to the corner with it. "Ha, this is awkward…"

"It's worse for me."

"Oh well. At least I'm taller than you now."

"Yeah, like that's all you care about."

"Maybe I'll make you smaller when I fix the armor."

"Ha, ha, ha, Ed."

Ed carefully placed his brother next to him and closed his eyes. He sat in that corner for a long time, half awake and in a daze, until the door opened, and Ed could hear Chewie. Ed didn't bother to open his eyes. After a moment, he felt something warm and fuzzy on his left arm. Ed opened his and saw Chewie looking at him, a piece of C-3PO in his other paw.

"Hey, Chewie," Ed muttered. Chewie growled before looking at Al. He growled again, pointing at the metal. "What, this?" Ed asked, picking it up. "This is Al."

"Um, hi, Chewie…" Al muttered. Chewie growled again and walked away. He seemed to be working on C-3PO. "Hey, brother? What happened to 3PO?" Al asked.

Ed shrugged. "I don't really know." He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

-------------

When Ed woke up, he could hear Leia's voice. He looked up to see her kneeling over Han, who seemed to be in pain. He looked down at his brother. Al was still there.

"What happened?" Ed asked.

"They were torturing him," Leia responded. "For no good reason."

Ed looked around the room. It was very quiet. Then he spoke, his voice barely over a whisper. "I was right."

"About what?"

"About Al."

"What, did you see him?"

"Yeah, he's right here," Ed said, pointing to the bit of armor.

"Yeah, I'm here," Al said.

Leia stood up and walked over. "Al? Is that really you?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, that must be awkward."

"Tell me about it."

Just then, the door opened, and Lando came in.

Will add this in later once I know how it goes

"Yeah, you're a real friend."

Ed decided it was time to speak up. "Aren't you overreacting just a little bit?"

Han looked at Ed in exasperation. "Ed, this guy just betrayed us all!"

"You think I didn't figure that out?" Ed shot back, his voice colder than usual. "Look, I've seen a lot in my life. I met a man who used his four-year-old daughter in a sick experiment that ended her life as a normal human. I've nearly been killed by a man who was so wrapped up in his need for revenge that he murdered the doctors that saved his life."

"Brother…"

"The way I see it, someone who's forced into hurting people he cares about is much different from someone who hurts people of his own free will."

Everyone in the room was silent. Finally, Han spoke. "I get your point. Sorry, Lando."

"No, you don't need to apologize. Look, I have to go. I'm sorry. Oh, Ed, I have something for you." One of Lando's men dropped a crate on the ground before they left.

As the doors closed, Ed looked down. He wasn't in the mood to speak anymore. He still felt dizzy. After a moment, he looked over at the crate. It was the rest of Al's armor.

"Great, now you can fix your brother."

Ed looked down at Al before standing up. "Guess so." He pulled the pieces out of the crate and arranged them on the ground. He stood up, looked down at it, and changed his mind. He'd have to create the armor first before bonding his brother's soul to it.

Once Al was back in a semi-normal body, he turned to his brother. "Where's my head?"

"Ah, I forgot it on the ship," Ed replied. "Oh well. It probably doesn't matter too much right now."

"No, what matters now is how to figure this out. We need to get out of here, at the very least."

Ed sat down and leaned against a metal post. The cool metal felt good against his skin. "I could probably transmute something…"

"Hey, wait, if they know that you can transmute or whatever, why did they leave you with us here and not even bother to do anything to your hands?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I'm sick? I really don't have the energy to do anything right now."

"Could be."

Just then, the door opened, and a pair of stormtroopers came up to Ed. One of them grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. "Come on."

Ed unwillingly followed the stormtroopers out of the room, casting a worried glance at his brother. As the doors closed behind him, Ed looked straight ahead, trying to memorize where they were going so that he could find his way back. After a while, he realized he was wasting his energy. No matter how hard he tried, everything seemed to look the same to him.

They brought Ed into a small room and had him lie down on a bed. Ed watched as they restrained his hands and feet. They also covered him with a blanket and placed something cool on his forehead, over his eyes. Once they were done, they left the room, and Darth Vader came in. He walked straight up to Ed and stood next to him.

"I find it strange that you have been so obedient. Perhaps this illness is much more worrisome than I thought. I have no intention of bringing a useless child to the Emperor."

"You might as well give it up now. There's no way I'll ever work for you."

"You may wish to rethink that. We have very little need of your brother, after all."

Ed wanted very much to punch Vader in his stupid shiny helmet, but he couldn't, so he settled for glaring, which didn't work well either since his eyes were covered. "Leave him out of this."

"If you behave, then I will."

Ed glared for a while longer at whatever it was blocking his vision. "Fine."

"Good." Vader left the room, leaving Ed to ponder his fate.

-------------

Please don't kill me for being slow. D:


End file.
